


This Is Halloween

by dinglesugdendinglesugden



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Family, Fluff, Halloween, M/M, parent!robron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 07:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12552496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinglesugdendinglesugden/pseuds/dinglesugdendinglesugden
Summary: A series of Halloween’s throughout the lives of Robert and Aaron





	This Is Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> this took so long to write, but hopefully you enjoy it!  
> tumblr: @robertjacobsuggers

**Aaron** **Livesy - aged 3**

  
A zombie. That’s what Aaron was dressed up as, green face paint on and black bag in hand, ready to go trick or treating. Chas clung on to his other hand, ready to go out onto the cold streets, the sky already a dark shade of blue.

  
“Will I get sweets, mummy?” He asked, jumping up and down excitably.

  
“We’ll have to see won’t we?” She teased, bending down slightly.

  
The streets lights illuminated the pavement an orange colour, Aaron’s little legs jumping up and down in excitement with the joy of being allowed out so late.

  
“Calm down.” A voice came from the back of them, stern and strong.

Aaron instantly stood up a little bit straighter as Gordon walked past him, holding his hand out for Aaron to take as they both walked up their neighbours path.

  
Aaron squealed with excitement when his first neighbour came to the door, scary mask covering his face, hand holding out a large bucket of sweets, every child’s dream.

  
“Just take one.” Chas said, helping her son holding his bag open.

  
“Oh he can take more than that!” The neighbour replied, grabbing a handful himself and throwing the sweets into Aaron’s bag. “I doubt we’ll get a lot of visitors.”

  
That was true. It was a school night, meaning that a lot of the children in the area would have either knocked on doors early in the evening, or just come on Friday night, despite it being November by that point.

 **Aaron** **Livesy- aged 15**

  
He’d ran out of home, leaving Gordon and Sandra to look after Liv. He had promised to take her trick or treating, just as he had done at that age, but after witnessing the arguments, and having Gordon raise his hand to him yet again, he grabbed his bagpack, shoved a few cans of Carling in it and ran halfway to the school, just so he could reach his friend’s house.

  
It was the end of October, and the year elevens had decided to have a house party for Halloween. Luckily for Aaron, it wasn’t at all fancy dress because not only could he not afford it, he’d ran out of the house with no change of clothing. One of the girls helping set up the party was a dab hand at make-up, or so everyone thought in the early noughties, so she shoved red all over Aaron’s face, smudging black under his eyes in an attempt to make him into some kind of devil.

  
The party started at eight, when the sky had blackened, and the lights from the house were the only things lighting up the street. With any luck, nobody would knock on the door trick or treating, because the music was so loud that even if anyone was speaking, people wouldn’t be able to understand them entirely.

  
Kyle and Aaron stood next to each other, both of them leaning against the cream wall, beer in hand and heads banging under the booming noise of Craig David. “How’s everything at home?” Kyle asked, lips precariously close to Aaron’s ear just so he could hear a whisper of his question.

  
Aaron just shrugged, not finding it in himself to talk about the afternoon. He knew it’d be bad tomorrow when he got home, but for now, he focused on swigging his beer and feeling the music pulsating through his body.

**Aaron Livesy- Aged 18**

  
He didn’t even twig that it was Halloween. Neither of them did. Jackson was still stuck in hospital, having pointless assessments to see if he could feel touches. They all knew he couldn’t, but none of them wanted to give up hope that he could regain his sense.

   
The hospital had been decorated, all green and orange and sparkly pumpkin fairy lights adorned the walls, not that Jackson could see. Hazel had come in, raving about how nice it looked, and how Heath and Cathy had been so excited all day to go out and get sweets that they hadn’t bothered to get dressed into normal clothes, instead getting into their pirate and witches costumes respectfully.

  
Aaron didn’t even realise, but his hand was placed firmly on Jackson’s wrist, rubbing at it softly. From where he was led, Jackson could just about see what Aaron was doing, and could definitely see Aaron’s face, expecting, hoping that Jackson could feel it.

  
“It won’t work.” He announced in a monotone voice, eyes fixated on the same crack on the ceiling that they had been for weeks.

  
“I know.” Aaron said, fingers still rubbing. “I’m still allowed to touch my boyfriend though.”

  
Jackson didn’t even respond, just closed his eyes and hoped that Aaron would stop soon enough.

**Aaron Livesy- Aged 21**

  
They’d been in France for over a year now. Ed had been successful at rugby, becoming a well known figure, whilst Aaron had been doing well building and fixing cars. They’d only just started allowing themselves to go out partying, after Aaron was constantly on edge that someone would recognise him from being on the run.

  
Ed had been invited to a nightclub with his team for Halloween, inviting Aaron as his plus one. They’d realised last year, but Halloween in a foreign country was completely different. Pumpkins weren’t sold in every shop, people weren’t big on carving them out and leaving them on their windowsills, and the children’s costumes were genuinely terrifying.

  
A girl had knocked on the door last year, and Aaron had answered it expecting her to be in a princess dress, but when he had opened the door, he saw realistic blood dripping from her eye, and a bloodstained shirt covering her body.

  
Now, they were on their way to a nightclub, both of them just in ordinary clothes, but with face paint on just to get in the spirit of things. It wasn’t Aaron’s cup of tea, not anymore. All he wanted to do was go home, and see Chas, and Paddy, and Adam. He was sick of being stuck in another country, branded as a fugitive back home, a nobody in France.

**Aaron Dingle- Aged 26**

  
He was a Dingle now. A _Sugden_ , if you’d asked his husband. Now it was Halloween, one of Robert’s favourite time of the year, mainly because “he’s a sociopath who enjoys watching scary movies” according to Liv, who was sat at the table looking in a mirror as she applies liquid latex to her face.

  
She’d been practicing all month, copying tutorials from Youtube, even going as far as to attempt to scare both of Aaron and Robert when they came in from their date night, blood dripping down her face, left eye covered by tissue paper, making it out like she had had it gouged out. Aaron screamed, of course, not expecting it at all, whereas Robert felt a little jolt in his heart when he thought Liv had been hurt, but laughing as soon as she started smirking and cheering at Aaron’s reaction.

  
Chas had been on their case for weeks now, demanding that the lot of them go to the party that the Woolpack was hosting, instead of Liv going to a friend’s one and Aaron and Robert having a night in. Of course, Robert was completely up for it, wanting to go all out and look like Freddy Krueger. Liv had practiced the make up on him as soon as he said it, and Aaron hated it. He loved how close the two of them were now, thick as thieves. But he hated the fact that Liv was talented enough to freak him out like that.

  
Aaron had been forced into becoming the Joker, something that was easily achieved once Liv forced him to sit down. Chas had been so excited, running about the pub trying to get it perfect, cobwebs dangling from the ceilings, pumpkins on tables lighting the room up, while Marlon and Victoria worked tirelessly to get the themed vol-au-vents out on time.

  
It was Aaron’s favourite Halloween, definitely. Proper family time, with the people he loved in the place he loved.

 

  
**Robert Sudgen- Aged 10**

  
He really didn’t want to go into the village, not when it was a long walk and it was blistering rain outside. Sarah hadn’t even persuaded him to do it, she didn’t really care because Victoria wasn’t exactly elated to be going out in the rain. It was when Jack shouted, that Robert’s spine grew taller, and he chucked his coat over his shoulders, shouting his little sisters name waiting for her to come bounding in the kitchen wearing the witches costume she’d been wearing all day, hat and all.

  
She was a tiny little thing, even for her age. Ginger hair fell down just past her shoulders, straight as anything except for when Sarah plaited it. Victoria held her hand out for Robert, while she wiggled to put her wellingtons on. They didn’t quite match her outfit, but Robert knew the first thing she would do is jump in the puddles collecting on the floor.

  
“You behave for Robert.” Jack said, opening the door for the two of them.  
Victoria nodded eagerly, probably more excited about getting sweets than anything else, and they left the house into the harsh weather.

  
“Can I splash?” She asked, tugging at Robert’s arm when she jumped up and down already.

  
“Go on then.” He said, rolling his eyes but grabbing her hat off of her hair before she ran off to the nearest puddle.

  
It took a good while longer for them to get into the village than normal, with Victoria wanting to jump in every puddle she could see. Robert had eventually fed up and said “The sooner we get to the village, the more sweets we can get.” which seemed to do the trick because she practically ran ahead afterwards.

  
By the time it was 8pm, her bag was full of sweets, and even Robert had managed to grab some from the pub when Alan wasn’t looking, causing his little sister, as tired as she was, to giggle behind her small hands. Now, he was carrying her back home, her head lolling against his shoulders, tired breaths huffing out every so often, sending a chill down Robert’s back with just how cold it was. It’d stopped raining sometime when they were in the pub, and Robert was grateful for that fact because it was hard enough trying to carry a sleepy toddler with a bag full of sweets in the pitch black darkness, never mind if the rain decided to lash down again.

**Robert Sugden- Aged 16**

  
The music boomed over Robert’s head, a can of beer in his hand while the teenagers of the village all congregated into one compact room, barely leaving any room to move. Nobody really wanted to be there, that was clear to see, but it was a night away from family and free booze, so nobody complained.

  
Except Andy was there too, brooding over a beer and Katie, who looked like a small fish in a big pond as she leaned against the wall with a glass of orange in her hand.

  
It was forced upon the two of them to go to the party, and with none of them actually going out of their way to speak to the other, the atmosphere was frosty to say the least. Halloween meant it was almost November, which to Robert meant it was almost the anniversary of Sarah dying, or rather, the anniversary of Andy killing their, his mother.

  
“Are you two still not speaking?” Ollie asked, obnoxious green tracksuit jacket over her, a lazily drawn skull on her face, attempting to get into the spooky spirit.

  
“No.” Robert said, eyes still locked on Andy’s, taking a sip of his beer. “Why would we be?”

  
Ollie rolled her eyes, completely fed up of the feuding between her friends. “Because you’re brothers! You need to get on a some point. C’mon, it never used to be like this Rob.”

  
His eyes fell from Andy’s stare, instantly locking on to Ollie’s, “He’s not my brother.” He spat, slamming the now empty can on the sideboard, picking up another simultaneously.

  
“Adoptive brother or whatever then!” She retracted. “My point is, you’ve both got a little sister, and she’s just lost her mum as well. She needs her brothers, both of them, to be around for her.”

**Robert Sugden- Aged 24**

  
It had been five years since Robert had left the village. Since Jack had told him to drive and not come back. Now, his dad had died, and Robert didn’t even go to funeral.

  
He was stuck in London it seemed, a once unfamiliar place that he now calls home. It was hard work, but he climbed his way up the ladder, doing nights on end of bar work, jumping from scene to scene, mixing cocktails and pulling pints. At one point, he was bringing home men and women every night, to whatever hotel he could afford for a few weeks.

  
It wasn’t ideal, and Robert was aware of that, but his self-taught talent enabled him to live in the capital city, miles away from Emmerdale, so he couldn’t really complain.

  
Halloween was always a mental night to be working the bar, any holiday was, but Halloween was definitely the main one where people would spend hours getting ready just to dance all the make up and face paint off in the dark. It seemed ridiculous, but it was always entertaining and a high earner.

  
Robert leaned against the bar, his uniform a nice fit, tight in all the right places. The boss had allowed the workers to wear their own face paint, so his face was an off shade of green with eye liner streaks of stitches above his eyebrow and across his cheek.

  
“Cider please mate?” A customer asked, devil horns stuck to his face and shirt ripped, fake blood dotted all over.

  
“Magners do ya?” Robert asked, looking at the ciders they stored in the fridge.

  
“Perfect.” He said, arm reaching behind him to pull out his wallet. “Not from round here are you?”

  
Robert raised his eyebrows, pulling change out from the till. “No, Yorkshire born and bred.”

  
“Leeds?” The man questioned.

  
“Just outside of it, small village.” Robert said, slamming the till shut. “five eighty change.”

  
Twenty-four wasn’t Robert’s best Halloween, but it wasn’t the worst either. He was working, earning money that he needed, wasn’t homeless, but wasn’t at home either. As much as he hated Emmerdale, he missed the serenity of it, and how everyone knew each other. He missed his family half the time, Andy not so much, but Victoria definitely.

**Robert Sugden- Aged 28**

  
He’d been back in the village for a few days, with Chrissie and Lawrence. So far he’d managed to see the immediate family, Victoria barely letting him out of her sight for fear of leaving again without so much of a goodbye.

  
Home Farm. That was his new house. Robert remembers growing up in the Village, back when it was owned by the Tate’s, and now he got to call it home, no matter how much he despised that it was technically owned by Lawrence.

  
Robert swiped at the condensation on his glass, catching the cold water before it dripped onto the pub bar. Diane was stood with him, chatting with Victoria and Marlon, both of who had donned their chefs outfit, ready to make the vol-au-vents for tonight’s party.

  
“What are you dressing up as Rob?” His little sister asked, rolling her sleeves up.

  
“Oh I’m not.” Robert confirmed, ready to stand his ground.

  
“What?” Victoria practically shouted. “You used to love Halloween!”

  
Robert rolled his eyes, sighing. “When we were kids, Vic. Chrissie’s dressing up anyway, so it’s not like none of us will be.”

  
Without saying another word, Victoria looked down and walked away, like a child who had just been told off.

  
“Robert!” Diane whispered. “She’s so happy you’re back pet, and ever since you and that new family of yours announced you’ve moved here permanently, she’s been so excited for this holiday.”

  
“Look, I’m sorry Diane but I just don’t fancy dressing up.” He said, drinking the very bottom of his pint and pulling his face. “Maybe next year.”

  
**Robert Sugden- Aged 34**

  
At three years old, Ellie Dingle-Sugden was a confident little girl, best known for running rings around her dads, metaphorically and physically.  From the minute she had learnt to walk, Robert had let her toddle in the middle of him and Aaron as they walked around the village and she had escaped from Robert’s hold, running off almost instantly. Aaron had chased after her, being the protective parent he is, and picked her up from behind, putting her on his shoulders as she giggled loudly, making Robert smirk.

  
“Taller than daddy now, aren’t you El?” Aaron said, lifting his hand up for his daughter to high-five him. Robert, as always, acted mock offended, and then pulled a sad face, making his daughter giggles even louder.

  
They were peas in a pod, inseparable since her birth, and even when people had told Robert and Aaron to go out and have some alone time, he’d still be texting whoever they had left Ellie with to see exactly how she was.

  
It was barely the beginning of October, and shops in Hotten had already started to get Halloween costumes and decorations in. Robert had been adamant that the entire family would be dressing up and going to the party in the Woolpack, because Chas had been organising it all throughout September and there was no way he’d be getting it in the neck from his mother-in-law if the four of them didn’t turn up.

  
Aaron didn’t want to dress up at all, rolling his eyes as Robert showed him his phone, scrolling through possible matching costumes. “Why am I the girl?” Aaron asked, taking a sip of his tea while Ellie sat on the floor in front of them, a picture book on her knees, tracing the words with her little hands.

  
“Wonder Woman, Aaron.” Robert said, shocked. “And you wouldn’t be, we’d both be Wonder Man!”

  
“You just want me to get my arms out.” Aaron joked, looking down at Ellie, making sure she was okay.

  
Robert rolled his eyes, locking his phone and putting it at the side of him.

  
“Daddy what am I dressing up as?” Ellie asked, getting to her feet and climbing up onto the sofa, sitting on Robert’s lap.

  
“Remember I took you shopping, El?” Robert asked, shaking his legs up and down, making his daughter jump about.

  
That picked up the interest in Ellie, and she instantly smiled and hid her face behind her hands, putting her finger against her lips in a ‘shh’ motion, something that her Auntie Liv had taught her from a young age. “Secret.”

  
Robert looked so proud, smile brightening straight away, cuddling into his three year old and kissing her head while Aaron raised an eyebrow.

  
“So I’ve got the two of you ganging up on me now?” He asked, opening his arms out for his daughter to climb into, which she did, instantly cuddling into Aaron’s chest.

  
When it was actually Halloween, a Tuesday this year, much to the displeasure of everyone, but luckily the children were off school, Aaron had left the house midday to help Chas and Charity decorate the pub. By the time they had finished, the entire place was orange and Liv had brought Aaron’s costume around for him to get into, saying that Robert and Ellie would be around soon.

  
Liv had dressed up too, as the Joker, because Gabby had been practising special effects for it all year round, creating the perfect slit of the mouth. They’d sprayed her hair green, stealing Aaron’s gel that he rarely uses nowadays to create the wet look.

  
“What’s Ellie like?” Aaron shouted to Liv, who had now walked past the bar and was ready to go upstairs.

  
“She’s so cute!” She shouted back, “Rob’s done amazing!”

  
Chas looks confused, grabbing a tray of food from Marlon and placing it on the table that was surrounded by decorative severed heads. “Is he surprising you, love?” She asked, stealing a cake cover in orange icing, decorated with a traditional pumpkin face in black icing.

  
“Yeah, he took her shopping and since then I’ve not been allowed to know what he’s got planned for her.” Aaron responded, sitting at a bar stool, putting a tealight candle in a carved out pumpkin before lighting it and putting the top back on.

  
Just as he got up to finish the pumpkins off, the pub door swung open, Robert stepping through first in the same outfit as Aaron, arms more defined than they used to be now he had started to do ‘actual’ work at the scrapyard. He wasn’t quite on Aaron’s level, but he had definitely started to gain muscle mass, and Aaron was very appreciative of it.   
His arm was stretched out, holding the door open, clearly for Ellie. “Are you ready?” He asked, grinning as he pulled his eyes away from his daughter, to look up at his husband and mother-in-law, who were now both smiling.

  
Aaron nodded, before saying, “Come on out then El.”

  
And in she walked, brown hair in pig tails, fringe over her forehead and a long pink shirt on, covering way past her knees, only just showing the purple leggings. On her feet were a pair of white converse, the ones Liv and Gabby had bought her for her birthday, the ones she always wore.

  
Chas gasped, putting her hand over her mouth in shock, whilst Aaron’s face completely melted, seeing his daughter grinning up at him, head tilted to the side.

  
“Do you like it Daddy?” She asked innocently. “I’m Boo!”

  
“Course I like it, baby.” He said, standing up from the stool and walking over to pick her up into his arms.

  
In reality, Aaron should have guessed that she’d dress up as her favourite character from one of her favourite films, especially Monsters Inc. after she spent the entire year asking to watch it over and over again. She always giggled when Boo appeared on screen, always saying “It’s me!” and pointing to the animation, because, in her eyes, the fact they both had the same hair made them the same person.

  
Robert grinned, seeing Ellie cuddle into Aaron, before Aaron turned to him. “You got her hair cut?”

  
“Just a fringe, don’t worry.” He consoled, leaning in to kiss Aaron. “Looks cute though.”


End file.
